Gabby's bad leg

Been on hols the last week with my mam, dad and youngest daughter not forgetting the dogs. Last Sunday evening out of the blue Gabby started yelping and holding up her hind leg, she was in pain for around 20 mins and again Monday morning the same thing happened it was awful as she was so pitiful. My ex (my 2 daughters dad) came down for Gabby and took her home to see Gabby's vet (we were on the coast about an hours drive from home) after a good examination the vet suspects the problem is Gabby knee, so her advice is to lead walk her for no longer then 20 mins and to keep a record of any further problems. (my ex brought her back down to me in the afternoon.)

On the 18th of this month Gabby has an appointment with another vet who will decide if she has to have an x-ray and the results will tell if Gabby needs an operation. This as all came out of the blue and at first the news was shocking but now I'll be glad for the 18th, to be more in the know. So I'm keeping :xfngr: for the best news for Gabby.

This would be a patella problem. Be sure you inform Gabby's breeder as bad patellas are hereditary and she shouldn;t repeat that breeding again -- any good breeder needs to know such information to make informed decisions about their lines and prevent future puppies being afflicted with the same problem.

Several on the board have cavaliers that have had patella surgery; you can use the search function to read up more on their experiences and there's also some more info in the Library section.

Sorry to hear the problem has arisen. Hopefully it will settle but given her age, it sounds like it might need surgery as usually, if the issue is going to go away, it does so as the dog reaches age 1. Also usually a bad patella is pretty easy to tell on exam and doesn't usually need an xray for diagnosis -- and the surgery should be done by someone who is really good at it as it is quite a long and involved recovery of many weeks of total crate rest.

If your dog isn't already crate trained, i would start to do that immediately on the prospect that she will need to be fully crated in case of surgery.

Also I don't know where you are in Wales but I'd be thinking of talking to an orthopedist if it looks like she has a bad patella. I think Chestergates Hospital in Chester has such a specialist.

PS I would not be walking her at ALL except for toiletting -- and certainly not for 20 minutes! Don't let her play around or jump up and off furniture or use stairs.

We didn't have Shelby x-rayed to determine whether or not she needed surgery. By the time she was a year old her knee was graded at a III by manual manipulation. The surgeon did do an x-ray before she did surgery to see what she was dealing with.

Yes, if her knee is actually causing her pain I wouldn't walk her except for potties. We also restricted Shelby's ability to jump on furniture, etc.

I am just beginning to learn what I may be dealing with, I will read up and digest as much information as I can so, when I take Gabby to her appointment I will be able to ask meaninful questions,( I am making a list) I can't wait now till I know whats what. Keep you updated and thanks for your sound advice.

Also Gabby as had no new episodes of pain and seems fine, however I can see how much she is jumping and it is going through me now and its hard to discourage her but I am trying to keep her calmer in the house. I'll dread to see her in pain again.

Oh Andrea so sorry to read this, poor gabby! Is she still crying with the pain? Just to let you know there is a good animal hospital in cardiff and very cheap and they deal with everything. my father in law told me about it.:flwr:

Thanks Katie, Gabby has had no new pain episodes since last Monday :xfngr:, roll on the 18th so I'll know more. (I didn't take her to the vet my ex came down for her, we were in Porthcawl, he spoke to the vet on his own) it seemed more important just to get her to the vets at the time than load the car with me, Emma and Jasper, my parents had booked a day trip so I couldn't leave Emma on her own) I will let you know any news

That was good of him! hope you managed to enjoy ur hol's! if u are stuck for a lift etc i drive and would be happy to help you out. my fingers are crossed tight praying it was a one off!!!:flwr:

Hols was great seen some cavs and lots of people commented on Jasper and Gabby Thanks for your offer and thoughts. seriously much appreciated:flwr:

Just a small update on Gabby, took her to her appointment today, when she was examined she was okay with her right hind leg but when the vet examined her left hind leg (her bad leg) she whined and it was obvious Gabby was in discomfort so she is booked in on Thursday to be xrayed, from what information I took in, he thinks her problem could be one of three things -

The groove is not deep enough so the patella slips out.
The ligament from her thigh to her chin bone is pulling her patella out.
The ligament from either side of her patella could be pulling her patella out.

Keep you updated.

(Also she was over 11kg now she is 10.4kg so some okay news)

Hope everything goes ok thursday, Thinking of you and poor gabby:lotsaluv:

It'll be good to find out what's going on. Shelby needed to have the groove deepened. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Fingers crossed for Gabby on Thursday.

Good luck on Thursday :xfngr: and paws crossed here for Gabby :lotsaluv:

Hope everything goes well on Thursday. You'll be in my thoughts.

Gabbys home safely she's sleeping besides me now.

Firstly her results show she doesn't have a laxating Patella, the vet suspects she has strained a ligament When she was asleep the vet manipulated her leg/knee and her patella stayed in place the whole time. So the plan of action is minimum exercise, no jumping up/down furniture and now up/down stairs (fished out baby gate in attic) she is having two injections once a week over a four week period.

If over time things don't settle the vet says it may be cartilage damage which potentially she'll need a MRI scan or an Arthroscopy. :xfngr: it's not that.

They also exrayed her hips which were fine, however the ball and socket joint of the hip showed that the ball isn't round like it should be but (in vet words) mushroom shape, so she has mild Hip Dysplasia.

So she is going back again Saturday morning to start her injections.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts:luv:

Also the poor thing has bow legs, my head is spinning.

Huge Hugs! What is bow legs?? been thinking of you, i hope it goes fine sat.:lotsaluv: